The Pope himself asked one of the Polish bishops to resign for covering up acts of pedophilia. After a similar decision in February 2024, this new pedophilia case involving the Church has caused a strong reaction within Poland, which has been shaken in recent years by several attempts to cover up similar sexual abuse.
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Andrzej Dziuba, bishop of a small town in the center of Poland, in Łowicz, concealed acts of pedophilia against altar boys, in particular a child aged 14 at the time of the events. While victims testified against one of the priests under Andrzej Dziuba for sexual touching, nothing was done to convict him. The bishop was content to transfer the implicated priest from parish to parish without ever condemning him, even though the city curia had known about it for almost thirty years.
Since the testimonies, Andrzej Dziuba has done everything to cover up the affair and not carry out the investigation properly. The Holy See took over the investigation in 2020 and concluded a few months ago that the Bishop of Łowicz was guilty of covering up this sexual abuse. The bishop therefore ended up resigning “ at the request of the Holy See », as indicated in the press release from the apostolic nuncio representing the Vatican in Poland.
The Polish Church increasingly criticized
This story of hiding a pedophile priest is not new in Poland: this is the second bishop to resign for having protected pedophile priests in less than a month. At the end of February, it was the former archbishop of Szczecin, on the German border, who was asked to resign, because he was also involved in a pedophilia case.
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So, the Polish Church is increasingly criticized for his management of this sexual abuse of minors. Last year it was even former Polish Pope John Paul II who was questioned by an investigation for having also concealed acts of pedophilia when he was bishop in Poland. These sexual assaults are now in the sights of the Pope Francis which insists on a policy of “zero tolerance» regarding these crimes. Since the start of its election, Poland has regularly been called into question.
But even if these bishops have resigned, their situation still causes scandal. In the Polish press, we question the resignation procedure of these bishops, which still gives the right to a bishop’s pension despite the concealment of pedophile acts. They also have the right to free housing, home help and food as a former man of the Church. Some newspapers and news sites are therefore asking the question of whether this resignation is a real punishment or simply an early retirement, with the privileges that go with it.
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